Inspiration, ideas and information to help women build public speaking content, confidence and credibility. Denise Graveline is a Washington, DC-based speaker coach who has coached nearly 200 TEDMED and TEDx speakers--including one of 2016's most popular TED talks. She also has prepared speakers for presentations, testimony, and keynotes. She offers 1:1 coaching and group workshops in public speaking, presentation and media interview skills to both men and women.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

You think your presentation could use a prop, a visual, three-dimensional object to focus the audience and help you reinforce your theme. But you're on the road, without time to hunt for something stunning or room in your suitcase to lug it with you. What to do?

Easy. Find a piece of paper. It's one of several low-cost, easy-to-find and portable items that you can use as a prop.

Paper, for example, can be folded into elaborate origami shapes to explain mathematical constructs and scientific theories...made into an airplane that can fly over the audience...creased or made into a cone to make a point (or a megaphone)...folded like a greeting card, an envelope, an accordion...ripped, pierced with a pencil or crumpled to convey emotion...cut into strips or confetti to share with your audience....turned into a temporary spyglass. You get the ideas--they're only limited by your imagination. Here's an early trailer for the documentary Between the Folds, which looked at how scientists, artists and math teachers are using origami:

In the same way, a bar of chocolate from the hotel gift shop, your cell phone, a cup of tea from the break station, a pen, an earring, a shoe--all handy--can be turned to your advantage as visual props.

The advantages of these basic props goes beyond convenience to you. All of them are:

Universal and familiar, making them more likely to be understood and related to by a wide range of audience members

Small and easy to transport

Hard to forget, since you're more likely to have them with you already

Your job, of course, is to change how they are viewed, taking them from the ordinary to the extraordinary in the eyes of your audience. I asked readers on The Eloquent Woman on Facebook, "What's the most creative prop you've used in a presentation or public speaking gig?" and got paper--and a host of other responses. Here's what our readers have used as props:

Mary Sias nominated "A can of soup" and "a large pinata sign to prove a point in my scholarship workshops."

Rachel Miller has used "My rabbit."

Leslie-Ann Howard -Martin Redweik has used "The audience themselves."

Weeze Bernier did it with paper, noting "I once told a true story of how receiving a document in the mail over 25 years ago, had changed my life. Throughout the story I referred to a crumpled and tattered piece of off white paper. When I was done, at least 3 people noted that it was great that I still had the document. The story was true, but I guess I did a pretty good job making a blank piece of paper look real too."

Jean Wolfe recalled, "One of my mentors used a can o' green beans, fresh green beans, spoiled green beans and frozen grean beans. She's awesome. Her presentation was on presentation skills....and how to keep it fresh!"

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